It wasn’t a normal start for the West Texas Warbirds when they took the field Saturday at the Ector County Coliseum.
Their opponent, the West Texas Buccaneers, suffered multiple setbacks on their trip from El Paso to Odessa that came in the form of inclement weather and a flat tire.
When the game did start, the Warbirds didn’t wait to show their dominance and cruised to a 70-8 victory.
“There was a lot of variables that took place and I understand, I get it coming down,” Warbirds coach Tate Smith said. “My hat’s off to them for at least playing the full game and competing.
“I was just happy that our guys got to let loose, have fun and play the game.”
Smith added that it was fun getting to see his players enjoy themselves with quick scoring plays.
Starting quarterback Trey Shaw looked sharp with three passing touchdowns in the first quarter, finding Jordan Gandy three times in the period for 86 yards.
He also connected with Jalen Childress for a nine-yard score before Trevonte Coleman punched in a one-yard rush to put the Warbirds up 29-0 heading into the second.
Two deep passes from Shaw landed in the hands of Isiah Scott in the second period, helping the Warbirds take a 42-0 advantage into the halftime break.
“We’ve been talking about since the beginning of the year that we’ve started slow offensively and we’ve got to start picking up the pace and starting fast,” Smith said. “Our guys accepted the challenge, both quarterbacks have been pushing the guys in practice.”
The Warbirds also got big plays on defense through the first half, with Theophilous Washington recovering a fumble in the first to go with interceptions from Lagrant Pegram and Joseph Nuttal in the second.
The Buccaneers got their strongest response in the third quarter when Chris Ware started connecting with his receivers, going 6-for-7 for 56 yards and a score.
His 17-yard pass to Ezekiel Dupas and 10-yard two-point conversion run gave the El Paso team its only points of the night.
Backup quarterback Guillermo Serrano went on to give the Warbirds a strong second half showing, completing three of five pass attempts for 63 yards and three touchdowns.
The Warbirds (4-0 overall) stayed undefeated and built up confidence for their next game against the Magnolia Spartans at 7:05 p.m. June 4 at the Ector County Coliseum.
“This is my first team ever out of the 20 years I’ve been on a team that’s undefeated,” Pegram said. “Each week I come on the field for practice and game days, I want to keep the streak going, do what they did last year and keep going this year.”
>> Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
